Hyperliquid Hits $4.9M Loss Amid Alleged POPCAT Manipulation – 13/11/2025
Decentralized derivatives platform Hyperliquid reportedly suffered a $4.9 million loss Wednesday following an alleged manipulation of the POPCAT token, according to blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain.
An attacker withdrew $3 million USDC from OKX, splitting it across 19 wallets to open a leveraged POPCAT long worth $20–30 million. A $20 million buy order near $0.21 drew liquidity and inflated the price, then was abruptly removed, triggering a crash and cascading liquidations—including the attacker’s own collateral, wiped out in seconds.
Hyperliquid’s community liquidity vault (HLP) absorbed the remaining losses, resulting in the $4.9 million bad debt.
A market participant described it as “peak degen warfare,” exploiting thin liquidity and automated LP absorption.
CoinDesk reached out to Hyperliquid for comment via X.
